JOIN OUR THRONE
SPEECH CAMPAIGN - URGE PREMIER EVES TO INCLUDE IN HIS APRIL 30, 2003
THRONE SPEECH A COMMITMENT TO STRENGTHEN THE ONTARIANS WITH DISABILITIES
ACT 2001

April 11, 2003

SUMMARY

Premier Ernie Eves
has asked the public to email or write to him to tell him what people
want his Government to commit to do in his upcoming April 30, 2003 Throne
Speech. This Throne Speech is widely seen as the Eves Government's foundation
for its platform in the upcoming provincial election.

We need everyone
to email or write to Premier Eves to raise disability issues. Urge that
his Throne Speech include a detailed commitment to strengthen the Ontarians
with Disabilities Act which his Government passed in December 2001,
to make this law strong and effective.

We give you here
all the tools you need to get your message to Premier Eves quickly and
easily. Email him. Get as many others as possible to do the same. We
will then watch the Throne Speech closely on April 30, 2003 to see if
the Eves Government listens to our views.

The steps we are
asking Premier Eves to take are all ones which both opposition parties,
the Liberals and the NDP, have promised to take in their election pledges
to us. Let's get Premier Eves and his party to join in so support for
our needs will be unanimous.

MORE DETAILS

Here are the tools
you need:

(1) Tips on Taking
Action - How You Can Help

(2) Sample letters you can email to the Premier.

(3) A list of the email, web, and regular mail addresses for sending your
views to Premier Eves, and

(4) A short excerpt from the Premier's Announcement on the Throne Speech
Consultation.

*****

(1) Tips on Taking
Action - How You Can Help

* It's best if you
give your views in your own words. If you don't have the time, just
cut and paste one of our two our sample letters, set out below, into
your email message to the Premier. If you can, add to the sample letter
your own message. The first of our two sample letters is longer and
more detailed. For those of you who prefer something shorter, our second
sample letter may suit you better.

I am an Ontarian.
I am writing to give my input into your consultation on what to include
in the upcoming April 30, 2003 Throne Speech.

It is important
that your Throne Speech make clear, strong commitments on action to
enable Ontarians with disabilities to fully participate in all aspects
of Ontario life.

The Ontarians with
Disabilities Act which your Government passed in 2001 was very disappointing
because it did not go further. It did not make it mandatory to remove
and prevent barriers. It did not apply to the private sector. It did
not provide for effective enforcement. It did not set a time frame for
setting mandatory accessibility standards.

I ask that your
Government commit in its Throne Speech to amend the Ontarians with Disabilities
Act within the next year to make it strong and effective. I support
the recommendations in the April 11, 2003 letter to you from the Ontarians
with Disabilities Act Committee. I want your Government to commit to:

1. Immediately proclaim
in force section 21 of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act. It is the
only section of that legislation, passed over 15 months ago, which has
not been proclaimed in force.

2. Pass, within
one year of your upcoming Throne Speech, amendments to the Ontarians
with Disabilities Act 2001, to bring it into compliance with all 11
principles for this legislation which the Ontario Legislature unanimously
adopted in a resolution on October 29, 1998 to make this legislation
strong and effective. This would include, at a minimum, amending it
to apply to the private sector, to make it mandatory that barriers against
persons with disabilities be removed and prevented, to require public
and private sector organizations to make effective accessibility plans
and to implement them, to require the Government to make mandatory accessibility
standards within a specified time frame, and to provide for effective
enforcement and remedies.

3. Hold open, fully-accessible
public hearings when the Legislature considers these amendments.

4. As Premier, personally
meet with representatives of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act Committee,
and for your Government to work together with the Ontarians with Disabilities
Act Committee to develop these amendments. Both you and Premier Mike
Harris refused each of the requests to meet with the ODA Committee since
your Government took office in 1995.

I look forward to
seing these views incorporated in your April 30, 2003 Throne Speech.
Issues important to persons with disabilities will be important in the
upcoming election. The Ontarians with Disabilities Act issue is one
which is important to me and to many others. I will encourage friends
and family to take this issue into account when deciding how to vote
in the upcoming provincial election.

I am an Ontarian.
I am writing to give my input into your consultation on what to include
in the upcoming April 30, 2003 Throne Speech.

The Ontarians with
Disabilities Act which your Government passed in 2001 was very disappointing
because it did not go further. Please commit in the Throne Speech to
amend the Ontarians with Disabilities Act within the next year to make
it strong and effective. I support the recommendations in the April
11, 2003 letter to you from the Ontarians with Disabilities Act Committee.

I look forward to
seing these views incorporated in your April 30, 2003 Throne Speech.
Issues important to persons with disabilities will be important in the
upcoming election. The Ontarians with Disabilities Act issue is one
which is important to me and to many others. I will encourage friends
and family to take this issue into account when deciding how to vote
in the upcoming provincial election.

Sincerely,

*****

(3) Addresses to Reach Premier Eves

You can yourself
directly e-mail the Premier at: webprem@gov.on.ca
or you can go on the web to use the Premier's website to email him by
clicking on:

We want you to tell
us your priorities for Ontario's future. We want your views and ideas
to keep Ontario strong. We're consulting broadly, meeting with citizens
in many different communities all across Ontario."

Among the questions
it invites us all to answer are these to which an answer about disability
issues such as the ODA are entirely fitting:

"9 - How can
we ensure that people in every neighbourhood and in every community
- from small, rural and northern communities to big cities - benefit
from a growing economy and increasing prosperity?...

OTHER SUGGESTIONS

Are there any other
suggestions to help make Ontario the best place to live, work and raise
a family (e.g., measures to ensure greater public sector accountability
in spending and results, support for seniors, democratic reform)?"

The announcement
also states:

"YOUR CONTACT
INFORMATION IS OPTIONAL

Your Name:

Street Address:

City:

Postal Code:

Phone Number:

The information
you choose to provide on this form is collected in compliance with section
38(2) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. The
information will be used to develop the April 30 Throne Speech and may
be used to contact you regarding your comments. The information will
be used for this purpose and may be shared with Ontario government ministries.